Army eyewitness arrested for murder of 4 jawans at Bathinda Military Station

As per the statement, the gunner has confessed to the police he stole the weapon along with a filled magazine easy on April 9 and hid them. “On 12 April 2023 at around 0430 hours, while he was on sentry duty, he recovered the weapon from its hiding place, moved to the first floor, and killed all four personnel while they were asleep.”

After killing his colleagues, he threw the weapon into the sewage pit. The army said, “The weapon and additional ammunition have been recovered from the sewage pit.”

“The statement made by the individual while filing the initial FIR on 12 April, mentioning two persons in civil dress with INSAS rifle and axe was an attempt to divert attention of investigating agencies,” according to the Army.

The force said the gunner is in police custody and “further details are being ascertained” as it reiterated there is “no terror angle as speculated earlier in some media reports”.

“Indian Army practices zero tolerance to such acts of indiscipline and is committed to ensure that the guilty will get punished as per law.”

Addressing a press conference, Bathinda SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said further investigation will be conducted in the case after taking remand of the accused. Khurana said no other individual’s involvement has been detected till now. “The accused was also found to be making inconsistent statements during the inquiry being conducted by the Army and this gave us reason to suspect him,” he added.

Khurana refused to elaborate on the reason why the accused committed the murders and insisted these were “personal reasons” behind the killings.

Sources said the investigation has revealed the gunner was being sexually assaulted by the four jawans due to which he took the extreme step.

A police officer familiar with the questioning of the accused carried out by the police said on the night of the killings, the gunner checked twice to see if the jawans had gone to sleep. “The jawans slept at around 2 am. He checked on them at 3 am and then at 4 am before finally committing the crime with the rifle he had stolen a few days earlier from a nearby sentry post,” the official said.

The Army had launched a massive manhunt at the Bathinda Military Station after the four killings came to light on April 12. Another jawan had died due to apparent suicide on the evening of April 12 but no foul play was suspected in this death.

Police officials said the gunner will be produced before a court in Bathinda later in the day.